Easiest worms to raise
- Thread starter Duma
- Start date
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
Silkworms. Feeding is easy, they don't smell, they don't need a lot of room and they stay put in their open-topped container.
The downside is that you have to be careful about introducing bacteria into the colony, so you can't handle them and keep everything including your hands clean. That said, in general, I don't clean them because I don't want to handle them. I've lost colonies after cleaning and I think it is that some suffered trauma, got sick with some sort of infection that spread that through the colony. That's why I don't handle them--I don't want them to suffer any trauma.
Chachi
Established Member
Ugh, I tried silk worms because they are so good for them. Desaster x 2. They only eat 1 thing. They dont care for the crappy chow you can buy fo them (anybody need any mulberry powder to make silkworm chow) If you could buy the plants you would be set. I could grow my own since i cant find any plants. If i start now, i should have a little plant for a half dozen worms by next year. Its not good. They get stinky and mushy when they die.....gross in every way
Shenanigans043
Member
I had a pretty large colony of superworms for a long time. They are pretty simple. Just need some way to separate the superworms so they feel comfortable and will pupate. Individual cups, or just a large container of peat moss, something they can burrow into and be alone. Beetles will pop up, pretty large already. Just feed them, and keep them on a container with a screen bottom so the babies wi fall out. There's plenty of videos or writes up ob the web on how to do it. Just do some reading to figure out what is easiest for you.
Virgil1972
Avid Member
I have just started doing superworms. I have the beetles and have seen them breed but I do not have any little worms yet. They are easy enough to do so far. I put my worms in a dixi cup to get them to pupate and then I put them in a little container with oatmeal.
Shenanigans043
Member
Yeah it's pretty straight forward. Just remember to separate and gutload any supers you're planning to feed in the next few days.
Virgil1972
Avid Member
Do you know how long it takes females to lay eggs after mating?
Shenanigans043
Member
Not really. I had my colony for like 2 years, and just kept a decent amount of beetles around. Never really did much in the way of timing growth rates or how long it took to actually see babies.
Virgil1972
Avid Member
Iv only had them for about a month now.
Vincentuanluu
Member
I placed superworms with heat lamp in my cricket 10gallon in a small container and left them inside for about 2-3 weeks and Beatles hatched.
Currently breeding Beatles and crickets, haven't tried worms yet.
Currently breeding Beatles and crickets, haven't tried worms yet.
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
Find mulberry trees online. They send you just sprouted saplings and they grow to decent size in a couple years. Silkworms are super easy. Keep them in shoebox size sterilize bins with vented lids. They don't do well in cups. Feed chow when you don't have leaves and feed every day fresh chow. I keep them on top of plastic gridding so change outs are easy. They have never had a problem with bacteria once they are about 1 inch long
Abba's Amanda
Established Member
so what do you do? just go out every day and harvest some silkworms out of the mulberry tree?
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
No 
silkworms are not a natural creation. They don't appear naturally in the wild, at least not the type we breed for food. They would not survive in the wild, the moths cannot fly and the caterpillars die very easily at certain stages. I explained how I kept them. I harvest leaves when I have them and fees them to the silkworms which I keep in small sterilite shoebox containers that are well vented and then I eventually switch to larger container for when they spin cocoons. I fend and keep them in the boxes, never in cups and always keep plastic mesh under them so I can switch them out. I put excess eggs in the fridge but otherwise they are easy to keep and once they get around 3/4 to and inch long there is really now worry about contamination.
silkworms are not a natural creation. They don't appear naturally in the wild, at least not the type we breed for food. They would not survive in the wild, the moths cannot fly and the caterpillars die very easily at certain stages. I explained how I kept them. I harvest leaves when I have them and fees them to the silkworms which I keep in small sterilite shoebox containers that are well vented and then I eventually switch to larger container for when they spin cocoons. I fend and keep them in the boxes, never in cups and always keep plastic mesh under them so I can switch them out. I put excess eggs in the fridge but otherwise they are easy to keep and once they get around 3/4 to and inch long there is really now worry about contamination.
Abba's Amanda
Established Member
Oh ok, I didn't that part of the thread I guess. :/ thx for explaining again!No
Chameleon Mike
Chameleon Enthusiast
I have mulberry trees growing in my yard like weeds, white and purple. The kids and I enjoy the berrys in the late spring and early summer. I've thought about trying the silk worms myself. Those with experience with them, my question is, if you had the trees growing like me would it be worth a try to raise silk worms? I've breed crickets and roachs successfully and working on superworms now. If they are easier then any of those I'm sure it could work.
Vanjan
Member
Or you just put the silkworm eggs in the fridge during winter when you dont have access to leaves. Take them out at spring, and they will hatch in a few days.
Chameleon Mike
Chameleon Enthusiast
Thanks I'll have to give them a try.
